


Once Upon a Time

by Catapapalilar



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Daryl as an awkward babysitter, Future Fic, My Version of a Eulogy, Storytelling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-02
Updated: 2015-04-02
Packaged: 2018-03-20 23:08:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3668613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Catapapalilar/pseuds/Catapapalilar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A few years after the group's arrival in Alexandria, Daryl is stuck babysitting Judith. When she begs him for a story, he tells the tale of Princess Beth.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Once Upon a Time

**Author's Note:**

> While I am an avid Bethyl shipper, this one's not necessarily romantic. I don't think anyone can deny that Daryl and Beth had some sort of connection, and that experience wouldn't just go away when she's gone. An ode to Beth, and the lasting effect she'll always have.

How did he get stuck with babysitting duty again? Oh, right. Because he hates social gatherings, Lil Ass-kicker was sick, and he didn’t actually mind being left with her, despite his scowl when Rick asked him. Although, now he was kind of regretting that choice. Four-year olds, even one as sweet as Judith, were pains. And he wasn’t all that great at dialing down to an appropriate level for kids.

“Tell a story?” Judith, looking up with her big brown eyes, pleaded to him. And despite the fact that he was gruff and a mean son of a bitch sometimes, her pouts could get him to do just about anything. And she knew it.

He shrugged helplessly, adding an “I’unno any” for good measure, but when that bottom lip quivered he felt his mind flailing for something he could tell her.

“Er… Once upon a time… there was a… a princess.” He paused, not really sure how a children’s story really went from here.

“Was she pretty?” Judy seemed willing to help him along.

“Er… Yeah.” She seemed to be waiting for more so he tried to keep going. “She… had beautiful blonde hair. And- er, the bluest eyes in the whole world, so blue that, uh, that even the sky was jealous of her.”

“What was her name?”

Daryl didn’t even really hesitate, bringing forth the one name that was never all that far from his thoughts anyway. “Beth.”

Judith scrunched her nose up, like she was trying to remember why she knew that name. Daryl felt a little punch in the gut, like he did every time he remembered her, once again realizing Judy would never know the girl who was really like her mom for the first few months of her life. Would never know Beth, who searched high and low for the whole family, but most especially this baby girl.

“Keep goin’.” She poked his in his stomach, seeming a little impatient.

“And Princess Beth was known all over for her singing, ‘cause her voice could make the whole world feel safe and better. So people from all over the land came to see her, to hear her sing, because it made them feel good. And… the kingdoms all around were fighting but Beth knew how to make it all okay again, ‘cause her voice was magic or some shit.” Judith glared at him for that one, and he knew she’d be tattling to her dad ‘bout the cussing. She huffed, appearing hilariously indignant in the way only a four-year old could, but nudged him to keep going. When he appeared stuck, she gave him another prompt.

“’Cause it could heal people.” A statement this time, not a question.

“Uh, yeah. It could heal… heal people’s hearts. ‘Cause the kingdom was having a rough time, but when people heard her sing it made… it made all the bad stuff go away. She always had a song to help out.” He could picture her now, singing at the campfire, in the prison, in the funeral home, humming in the woods whenever her mind would go somewhere he couldn’t follow.

“Did she marry a prince?” Judith’s voice shook him out of his thoughts this time.

“Nah. She never found a guy worthy of her, and she didn't need one neither. She could kick ass all by herself, if she needed to, cause she was tough. And she loved her kingdom, ‘cause it was like her family, and she would go through hell and back to make sure her people were happy. She lived for other people, and she lead them through dark times.”

“ _And_ she lived happily ever after!” Another statement. Daryl nodded his head, hiding the cringe at another punch. Truth wasn’t meant for a kid. Princesses always lived happily ever after, even if Beth barely lived at all.


End file.
